Mike Shanahan on QB Kirk Cousins: ‘If you don’t think he’s a special player, you don’t watch him practice very often’

Mike Shanahan believes that it might be time to visit your local optometrist if you don't think that Kirk Cousins is the real deal.

Less than two weeks after former Washington general manager Scot McLoughlin said that he didn't think the veteran quarterback was "special," the coach who discovered Cousins made it crystal clear that the best is yet to come from the signal caller.

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"There's no question in my mind that he's a special player," Shanahan told the Daily News on Monday. "If you don't think he's a special player, that means you don't watch him practice very often. You take a look at some of the games he's played in. He hasn't played with a good defense that's been in the upper half of the league, I don't think, since he's been there. You can't always do it by yourself. You got to have an offense and a defense for a quarterback to be really successful… especially when you get in the playoffs. But I guarantee you he's a special guy."

Shanahan, frankly, is right. Washington has had a subpar defense in Cousins' three seasons as the full-time starter. The raw numbers: Washington has finished 28th, 28th and 21st in total defense and 17th, 19th and 27th in points allowed.

"He's a good player," McCloughan recently told a Denver radio station about Cousins. "Is he special? I don't see special. But also, we were still building a roster around him to make him special…. He's talented. Talent is good at quarterback in the NFL. He's won games. I know his record overall is not over .500. I know he has not won a playoff game. But he's competitive. He works his tail off. He's so methodical. Every day he has planned out. He's always in the building; he's always watching tape; he's always talking to coaches; he was talking to me. From the standpoint of the tangibles, they're excellent. You just need to have some talent around him because you don't want him to be throwing the ball 35 to 40 times to win the game. You want to have a running game, have a good defense, good (special) teams, and then let him do what he does."

Cousins, who's 24-24-1 as the full-time starter, will hit the open market unless Washington slaps the franchise tag on him for a third consecutive season. A third franchise tag, however, would cost $34 million, prompting some quarterback-needy teams like the Jets to wonder about landing the plug-and-play quarterback.

Shanahan's imprint seemingly will be all over the 2018 Jets with former pupil Jeremy Bates in line to take over the offense. It makes perfect sense for the Jets to go all-in for Cousins in free agency.

"I think Kirk Cousins could be successful in any offense that he ran," Shanahan said. "Those quarterbacks are hard to find. But everybody needs playmakers around them. I think that's what everybody else's job is… to get those coaches the best supporting cast. But it starts with the quarterback. When you have a guy like Kirk Cousins on your team — and you can get a supporting cast for him — he'll play well."

The Jets will have about $100 million salary cap space, so money shouldn't be an issue. Cousins, who has 82 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions with a 67 percent completion rate in three seasons as the full-time starter, has thrived in the Shanahan offense before, so it stands to reason that he'd be an ideal fit for Bates.

Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins could be targeted by the Jets this offseason. (Bill Kostroun/AP)

What kind of quarterback would Shanahan, who drafted Cousins in the fourth round in 2012, choose if he had a clean slate like Bates does right now?

"Number one: You want a guy that's a natural leader," Shanahan said. "A guy that football's very important to. He's got to have it. He's got to really live it like some of these really good coaches. Usually if you're talking about a quarterback that's dropping back, he's got to be able to go through the process very quickly. If they can't, they're not very consistent. You'd like to have somebody that can make every throw — and it doesn't have to be overly powerful — but they're able to make every throw."

Shanahan, of course, has had success with different styles of quarterbacks from Steve Young to John Elway to Jake Plummer to Robert Griffin III. The key, the two-time Super Bowl winning head coach said, is to tailor a scheme around your personnel.

"Regardless of who your quarterback is," Shanahan said, "you got to take a look at what their attributes are and try to implement those in some of the things that you do even though it might not showcase all of his talents. You just got to be able to run a number of different things to hopefully help him in critical times."

Shanahan doesn't have a shadow of a doubt that Cousins, who will turn 30 this summer, will be a difference maker for years to come.

"So many times people talk about these quarterbacks, (but) until they get a good defense, the chances of winning a lot of playoff games aren't very good," Shanahan said. "You have to have personnel. It doesn't have to be great personnel, but it has to be good personnel… You got to put these guys in position at least to have a chance. That's why it's so important to have the whole team together with your GM, your owner, your head coach, your coordinators."

The Jets need to all get on board with this truth: Kirk Cousins is the best solution to your biggest problem.